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Police: Man Was Drunk, On Drugs When SUV Smashed Into House

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DENVER (CBS) – Denver police say a man was drunk and under the influence of drugs when he smashed his Land Rover SUV into a home on Bellaire near Girard on Wednesday night.

Investigators arrested Donald Coffey, 55 of Littleton, at the house Wednesday night.

Donald Coffey (credit: Denver Police)

He ended up in the Denver jail after first going to the hospital but posted bond on Thursday.

Police said the series of events started when the SUV first crashed into a car on Hampden. From there the driver turned onto Bellaire where the Land Rover crashed into a retaining wall then a gas meter followed by another car before it hit the home, narrowly missing two people.

“They had just come in from one of the local establishments with dinner and were preparing to sit down to dinner at the time of the accident,” said Denver Fire Chief Michael Tealer. “We’re very thankful that neither of them were injured.”

Witnesses said the driver was swerving through the streets. Lindsay Tanner said he was driving very erratically.

“He had no right tire, sparks were coming out from under the car,” she said.

Chief Tanner said it was clear something was wrong when the driver got out of the SUV.

“He was visibly intoxicated. Him and his dog both, his dog was completely shaken,” he said.

Paramedics took both the suspect and the dog to the hospital before he was booked into jail.

For the family in the home, the close call means everyone’s okay but there is plenty of cleanup ahead.

“It was very unsettling for them to have a car come into their home,” Tealer said.